“George sent me to California. He wanted the Golden Skulls erased. There is a history there. His family and the Dohertys, along with the Goldmans, the Lombardos, and the Wolfs. Something happened that split them up. And George couldn’t let it go.” He shook his head as if he didn’t believe it. “His grandfather was one of the two men that started the fucking thing, but George couldn’t see that his family was in the wrong. Anyway, I’d met James at Sturgis, and George thought he finally had a way in. James was VP at the time, like me.”
Uncle Stephen settled his gaze on my face. “You look so much like your mother. I met her in California. Her name was Christina Dougal. Her twin sister was Caroline Dougal, James’ wife. What I didn’t know at the time was that she had a brother.”
“The man who hurt Donna,” I whispered.
Uncle Stephen nodded. “James and Donna were in love. But he was married to Caroline. She was such a bitch. It didn’t surprise me that James had fallen for her trap; the woman was gorgeous. Just like Christina. But where Caroline was conniving, Christina was naïve. Innocent. I fell for her the moment I laid eyes on her.
“I started making regular visits out to California. I told George I was close to getting him what he wanted. The truth was, James and I were doing everything we could to cut George and James’ father, William, off at the knees. But we failed.
“I’d fallen in love with Christina and gotten distracted. When I found out she was pregnant, I panicked. If George had known I had a child on the way, he would have killed your mother before you were born.”
“You can’t know that.”
“I can!” Uncle Stephen shouted. He took a deep breath. “Baby, I have done terrible things. Not long before you were born, George Stone had an affair. The woman was pregnant with twins, his twins. He killed two innocent people to cover up hisaffair, and I said nothing. I’m not proud of what I’ve done, but after that...” He reached over and took my hand. “Once I knew you were on the way, I did everything I could to protect you. I pulled your mother out of California, gave her a new name, and put her in Arkansas, under Titan’s protection. I’d worked out a deal with him to protect you and your mother, and I came to see you as often as I could without George finding out.”
King’s body was hard as granite beneath me. As soon as Uncle Stephen started talking about George Stone, I could feel the rage building inside him. His arms tightened around me, and his breathing was deep and slow like he was trying to rein in some control.
“Did George find out? Is that why you stopped coming around?”
“No, baby, he never knew.” Uncle Stephen closed his eyes. “I trusted the wrong man.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” King growled behind me.
“Titan. The man I asked to watch over the most precious thing in my life fucked me over. He told me you were gone. That your mother had taken you and run.”
“We moved, but only to the next town over. Mom said there was something wrong with the house. We moved further from the club. That was when she stopped bringing me there.”
“I searched for you. But she had nothing in her name. I had no trail to follow. Because I thought she’d taken off, I never looked in the surrounding towns,” he said. “But I never stopped looking. When Shane Keller called the other day, it was the happiest fucking day of my life.”
“So you didn’t leave?”
“Never, baby girl. I would never have left you.”
“Why did she lie?”
“What?”
I looked up at Uncle Stephen, my father. “She said you left. That you didn’t want us anymore.”
“There hasn’t been a day when I didn’t want you.” Uncle Stephen had tears in his eyes. I tapped King’s arm, and he loosened his hold on me. I stood up from his lap and reached for my father.
He stood up and pulled me against him and buried his face in my hair. The tears started again. But these were happy tears. I’d finally found my father, and he was the man I’d always wished for. The man who’d always loved me.
I hadn’t been abandoned; I’d been stolen. Robbed of a life with the one man who loved me unconditionally. I didn’t know how I would ever forgive my mother.
“Popeye, stay as long as you like. But you have to know we have a lot of shit going on.”
“I know. If I take my place in the club, half of your problem goes away.”
“How is it you have a claim to the presidency?” King asked. “Your last name is Hartley.”
“I was adopted. My mother was Sarah Hartley. She had an affair with her sister’s husband, Ashley James. My mother moved to New York and gave birth to me, and I was adopted by her brother and his wife, who couldn’t have children of their own. I never knew. Not until George ordered Bane to start DNA testing the club members.”
“Cordell James was your brother?”
“Half-brother.” My father took a deep breath. “Devlin Scott was also my half-brother.”
Chapter Fifty-Seven
